Career Success: Take Charge of Your Career

People react very differently to the waves of change that suddenly flood the work and marketplace. Some, who feel confused or unsettled struggle to keep their heads above water gasping for air. By contrast, others, who may not even like or agree with the changes, nevertheless accept them, get on with their lives and swim forcefully to their new destination. The following three tactics will help you mobilize your resources to take charge of their careers.

Fuel the Fire In Your Heart.
Live your life and career with intention. The key to sustained peak performance is discovering who you are, what you want in life, and then confidently pursue it. Remember, if you don't have your own mission or purpose get one, or otherwise, all you can do is sign up for someone else's. Remember, if you don't know where you're going, how will you know that you've arrived?

Start by develop a career line. Prepare a graph that outlines your career highs and lows from your first job to the present. What kinds of activities were you involved in during your highs - during your lows? Continue this getting to know yourself process by locating your inner energy source. What really gets the juices flowing for you? Is it challenge? Helping other? Being creative? Having authority? Making an impact? Whatever motivates you, write it on a card and look at it every morning.

During times of change and uncertainty, you must realize that it's often your outlook or your attitudes--- what you bring to work, not what work brings to you---that determines your career success. Can you look at what's happening in the workplace and not take it personally? Can you accept the luck of the draw and move on? Can you bounce back on your own rather than allow yourself to wallow in negative emotions? You must learn to accommodate adversity. It can either break or build character. Which is it doing for you?

Forget Being the Lone Ranger.
Are you familiar with the saying: "It's not what you know, .but who you know." Well in today's changing work world, the new saying is: "It's not only what you know, it's not only who you know, but, as important, it's who knows you and your work."

First thing to do is to inventory your network. List all the key people in your career world. Are your contacts mostly within your area? Or are there linkages into different departments, divisions, subsidiaries? What about outside your company? What kinds of relationships do you have? Hi and Good by? Or Hi! What have you been doing? Develop relationships with a whole array of people. It's your ticket to career advancement and success.

Know and be known. Work groups or teams, not hierarchies, are now doing the real work in today's workplace. How are you going to find out about the latest hot project? How are key people going to know about you and your talents? An active network is the most effective tool fin this age of uncertainty. Realize that contacts are the bread of career life. In times of change, information and relationships are a source of power.

Don't Just Stand There, Do Something.
Recognize a successful career in not a spectator sport. Opportunities do not just get placed on your desk. Organizations will no longer provide you with clearly defined career paths. Don't be an absentee landlord and neglect your personal career management. Know what you want and actively seek it out. Take charge of your career. Remember, if you don't control your own destiny, no one else will.

Start by doing a career check up. Ask yourself: "Where am I? Where do I want to go? What are some paths to get me there? What are possible barriers? What are my supports? What resources am I going to need? How will I get these resources?" Failure to take charge of your career leaves you a victim of your own neglect and the changing workplace.

Always have several options in your back pocket. Focus on career contingency planning. Do you have a Plan A, a Plan B, and even a Plan C? What conditions could possibly change in your job; your company; or your industry? Do you have a clear idea where you could jump if unexpected roadblocks arise? Where else can you apply your skills and showcase your talents? A successful career is not fixed in stone, but is fluid and subject to change.

Remember, the Name of the Game Is Action.
Make sure your career goals are not stranded on a island called: "Someday I'll..........." If you want something, don't just think or talk about it. Figure out a way to make it happen. Set specific goals. Develop action plans. Have realistic timetables. Find the resources you need. Keep alive in today's rough seas and begin preparing for tomorrow's raging waters.

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job ­ to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks ­ resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs ­ fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

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Google News Updated : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:07:30 GMT Buckeyes survive Ohio's threat, 26-14 - The Associated Press The Associated Press Buckeyes survive Ohio's threat, 26-14 The Associated Press - 35 minutes ago COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Beanie Wells didn't play. The Ohio Bobcats sure did. Lightly regarded even in the Mid-American Conference, Ohio put a scare into No. Ohio State Football: OSU 26, OU 14 The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg ESPN USA Today - Columbus Dispatch - Chillicothe Gazette - SBR Forum all 172 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:31:47 GMT Journals week in review: news from One Microsoft Way - Ars Technica Washington Post Journals week in review: news from One Microsoft Way Ars Technica - 1 hour ago By Emil Protalinski | Published: September 06, 2008 - 01:15PM CT First Gates-Seinfeld ad leaves us scratching our heads. The first Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates ad has arrived. Seinfeld ads only part of Microsoft push United Press International Windows Vista: The OS About Nothing InformationWeek New York Times - Slashdot - Apple Insider - CRN all 499 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:27:03 GMT 'Wrestler' brings Venice fest to its feet - Hollywood Reporter Hollywood Reporter 'Wrestler' brings Venice fest to its feet Hollywood Reporter - 52 minutes ago By Eric J. Lyman VENICE -- "The Wrestler" was the toast of the Lido on the Venice Film Festival's penultimate day, with star Mickey Rourke's interpretation of an aging wrestler struggling to come to terms with the end of his career creating a buzz that ... 'The Wrestler' wins Venice Film Fest top award The Associated Press Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. TIME Bloomberg - Reuters - Monsters and Critics.com - Los Angeles Times all 327 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:14:35 GMT Obama, McCain to Honor Victims of 9/11 Together - Voice of America ABC News Obama, McCain to Honor Victims of 9/11 Together Voice of America - 1 hour ago By VOA News US presidential candidates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have agreed to appear together on September 11, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Conventions, Anything but Dull, Are a TV Hit New York Times Comment by John S. Baick Professor of History, Western New England College Newsday - CNN - Argus Press - Bloomberg all 4,236 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:01:14 GMT "Bangkok" a skillful action excursion - Reuters E! Online "Bangkok" a skillful action excursion Reuters - 15 hours ago By Stephen Farber LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Everything is relative in the realm of hyperviolent movies, and compared to this summer's other assassination thriller, "Wanted," "Bangkok Dangerous" is a model of restraint and moral rectitude. 'Dangerous' prosperous at box office Variety An Assassin Arrives to Turn Off the Lights New York Times Boston Herald - Boston Globe - Roanoke Times - Buffalo News all 251 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:41:52 GMT Boeing Machinists Take To Picket Line After Talks Collapse - CNNMoney.com Washington Post Boeing Machinists Take To Picket Line After Talks Collapse CNNMoney.com - 1 hour ago NEW YORK (AFP)-- Boeing machinists took to the picket line on Saturday as they launched a strike that has halted production and could cost the US aerospace giant more than $100 million per day. Low strike pay could limit length of Boeing work stoppage BloggingStocks Boeing machinists walk off the job MarketWatch Wall Street Journal - New York Times - AHN - Reuters all 2,440 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:46:08 GMT McCain, Obama battle over economy, leadership - AFP Telegraph.co.uk McCain, Obama battle over economy, leadership AFP - 51 minutes ago COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) - Economic issues dominated the campaign trail Saturday as presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain battled over who could best lead the nation in troubled times. Reuters Politics Summary Washington Post Barack Obama, John McCain say they hate meddlers ... but both ... Los Angeles Times Intellectual Conservative - WGN - Financial Times all 650 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:15:37 GMT RSS Feed Reader Increased Web Site Traffic

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